Class Conflict, Slavery, and the United States Constitution - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521132622 ISBN 13: 9780521132626

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

First published in 1967, Class Conflict, Slavery, and the United States Constitution was among the first studies to identify the importance of slavery to the founding of the American Republic. Provocative and powerful, this book offers explanations for the movements and motivations that underpinned the Revolution and the Early Republic. First, Staughton Lynd analyzes what motivated farm tenants and artisans during the period of the American Revolution. Second, he argues that slavery, and a willingness to compromise with slavery, were at the center of all political arrangements by the patriot leadership, including the United States Constitution. Third, he maintains that the historiography of the United States has adopted the mistaken perspective of Thomas Jefferson, who held that southern plantation owners were merely victimized agrarians. This new edition reproduces the original Preface by Edward P. Thompson and includes a new essay by Robin Einhorn that examines Lynd's arguments in the context of forty years of subsequent scholarship.

About this title

Book Description

Class Conflict, Slavery, and the United States Constitution was among the first studies to identify the importance of slavery to the founding of the American Republic. Provocative and powerful, this book offers explanations for the movements and motivations that underpinned the Revolution and the Early Republic. This second edition reproduces the original Preface by Edward P. Thompson and includes a new essay by Robin Einhorn.

About the Author

Staughton Lynd received his BA from Harvard College and his MA and PhD from Columbia University. He taught at Spelman College and at Yale University. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of more than a dozen books and has published articles in journals including the Journal of American History, the William and Mary Quarterly, and the Political Science Quarterly.

Robin Einhorn is a professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0521132622
• ISBN 13: 9780521132626
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 310
• Editor: Lynd Staughton